PFF spotlights one Philadelphia Eagles rookie while snubbing another

Some swear by them. Others think their statistical and analytical engines are flawed, but come on. Who isn’t paying attention to what Pro Football Focus comes up with? From a Philadelphia Eagles standpoint, there are a lot of moving pieces to watch. Finally, this team has the healthy mix of youth and veteran leadership that we’ve been waiting for.

Every NFL season brings surprises and uncertainty with every NFL team’s roster, but stats remain our most popular method for determining who’s performing well and who isn’t.

We spend hours talking about how great the Eagles’ running game is. The numbers prove it. We debate Fletcher Cox’s dip in production, and then we go see where he ranks among the game’s other defensive tackles. PFF has made that an easy task for all of us, so whether you’re a fan of what they’re doing or not, the stat gurus at PFF have proven they’re worth the subscription price.

Recently, they pieced together their 2021 NFL All-Rookie Team. Are you interested? Yep! We thought you might be.

Pro Football Focus snubs one Philadelphia Eagles rookie while spotlighting another.

Football’s a team sport. There’s an understatement huh? Individual accomplishment is a part of the deal too though. That’s why DeVonta Smith plays in the first quarter of a game that the Eagles aren’t trying to win and why Jason Kelce takes a snap to keep his streak of consecutive games started alive.

No one’s complaining about any of that. We’re just proving a point.

PFF’s Ben Linsey always does good work for his team. He, no doubt, put some time into piecing his rookie team together. DeVonta Smith made the cut, as he should have. We just have one issue, there’s a glaring omission from the Philadelphia Eagles roster. Where’s Landon Dickerson?

We’ll get to that in a second. In the meantime, here’s some of what Linsey said about Smith:

"As it turns out, the wide receiver who torched college football for two consecutive seasons and won a Heisman Trophy has proven to be a productive NFL receiver despite persistent pre-draft concerns about his weight.One of the most impressive aspects of Smith’s rookie season was how comfortable he looked bringing in passes near the sideline. Smith ranked second among all receivers in PFF receiving grade on targets within two yards of the sideline and was among the top five players in the NFL in receptions on those targets."

On the season, DeVonta hauled in 64 receptions for 916 yards, and he reached the end zone five times.

In terms of Dickerson, here’s our issue, Alijah Vera-Tucker is no slouch. Neither is Trey Smith. He was the other guard named.

Landon received an honorable mention, but while all three of these young men are exceptional run-blockers, Dickerson seemingly evolved, towards the end of the season, into a better pass protector than Smith while being just as good as Vera-Tucker.

It’s for that reason, that we throw the challenge flag on Mr. Linsey’s list. That’s our opinion. We’re just using the eyeball test. You’re allowed to have yours.